Office-based procedure at WVU Medicine provides alternative for hand surgery If you need hand surgery, such as carpal tunnel surgery or WWVUMedicine cyst removal, you don't necessarily have to go to the hospital to have it done. There's a newer way to do hand surgery, called WALANT, in the doctor's office. ORTHOPAEDICS WALANT stands for wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet. It's an outpatient surgical procedure that doesn't have to be done in the operating room, but can be done HAND &ARM EXPERTS in the doctor's office. Patients are given a local anesthetic injection, and no tourniquet is used on the arm to restrict blood flow. "Literally, it's like a dentist office visit. They walk in, sit in a chair, have the surgery, and leave," Shafic Sraj, MD, WVU Medicine orthopaedic surgeon, said. "The advantage is without the tourniquet, you won't have the pain. You don't need to be sedated. You're really wide awake and able to cooperate with the surgery." WALANT in the office setting is typically used for hand and elbow procedures, such as carpal tunnel surgery, ganglion cyst removal, or tendon repair. The patient sits in a recliner chair behind a screen and talks with the doctor throughout the procedure. "They don't have to go through a preoperative testing. They don't just have to see any other physicians or surgeon prior to surgery. They don't have any encounter with anesthesia," Dr. Sraj said. "When you're doing it in the office, you're not recovering from the anesthetic. You just literally stand up and walk out." For more information on WALANT, including a patient story, click here. For more information on WVU Medicine, visit 855-WVU-CARE wVUMedicine.org. Sponsored content brought to you by WVUMedicine.org/Ortho WVUMedicine Office-based procedure at WVU Medicine provides alternative for hand surgery If you need hand surgery, such as carpal tunnel surgery or WWVUMedicine cyst removal, you don't necessarily have to go to the hospital to have it done. There's a newer way to do hand surgery, called WALANT, in the doctor's office. ORTHOPAEDICS WALANT stands for wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet. It's an outpatient surgical procedure that doesn't have to be done in the operating room, but can be done HAND &ARM EXPERTS in the doctor's office. Patients are given a local anesthetic injection, and no tourniquet is used on the arm to restrict blood flow. "Literally, it's like a dentist office visit. They walk in, sit in a chair, have the surgery, and leave," Shafic Sraj, MD, WVU Medicine orthopaedic surgeon, said. "The advantage is without the tourniquet, you won't have the pain. You don't need to be sedated. You're really wide awake and able to cooperate with the surgery." WALANT in the office setting is typically used for hand and elbow procedures, such as carpal tunnel surgery, ganglion cyst removal, or tendon repair. The patient sits in a recliner chair behind a screen and talks with the doctor throughout the procedure. "They don't have to go through a preoperative testing. They don't just have to see any other physicians or surgeon prior to surgery. They don't have any encounter with anesthesia," Dr. Sraj said. "When you're doing it in the office, you're not recovering from the anesthetic. You just literally stand up and walk out." For more information on WALANT, including a patient story, click here. For more information on WVU Medicine, visit 855-WVU-CARE wVUMedicine.org. Sponsored content brought to you by WVUMedicine.org/Ortho WVUMedicine